Return to Sender

Well, um, it's February y'all, um, y'all don't seem too excited about that. We've been inside too long. Everybody's got cabin fever. I don't know about you, but coming to church today, I was like, what a week, man. And I anticipated today would be, I don't know, like maybe just a bit unique because of the week that we've had here in Nashville and that other places have had with the weather. Anybody in here, you still don't have power. My goodness. So if you guys need anything at all, can you reach out to us, um, or your friends and family because we're here for you. Anything that we can do, we're working behind the scenes right now, trying to get some like relief teams here to help with, uh, trees and, and so on and so forth. So we don't have confirmation quite yet, but if we get that next Sunday, um, I'm just going to open like a questionnaire where you can sign up and that if we can get enough people here, uh, we're going to try to help remove trees and things like that. So I just want you guys to know we're here for you. The local church is here for you. And if you need anything at all, whether it has to do with the weather or not, please reach out to us. I know that this week has been awkward. It's been awkward in so many ways. I think for me, uh, we have four kids, Allison and I, and, uh, we took all of our four kids to our best friend's house in Franklin and guess how many kids they have? Four. So we had eight kids and a dog, uh, in under one roof and just honestly had the time of our lives. It was so much fun. And somebody said to me today, when are you ever going to get to do that again? I'm like, hopefully never. Um, but it was fun while it lasted, you know?

Um, and also I think like, when I say this, a lot of people are like, what the heck are you even talking about? It's just, there's a lot of crazy stuff happening. I think in the ministry world, like, I don't know that the charismatic Pentecostal church has been under fire in the way that it's been the last couple of weeks in my lifetime that I can remember, or at least my life in ministry. And so as a Pentecostal pastor and as a Pentecostal preacher of 20 years, I'm like, man, the church is in a prophetic moment and I am praying that your people, God, would respond in the way that you're calling us to, so that you can receive the bride that you're longing for. Because we know the bridegroom King, Jesus Christ is coming back for a spotless bride. And the only way possible for us to be spotless is if Jesus washes us clean. And so we depend upon you today. So I realize if you've had like a crazy week, if you've had a crazy couple of weeks, um, we're going to dive into the Bible. We're going to pray a little bit more, but I just ask you to open your heart and let God go to work. Let him operate today. Let him heal today. Let him make whole today. Let him restore and redeem today because that's what he's the best at. You can't do it for yourself. I want you to know working on project me ain't going to get you that far, but if you're able, you're willing to open up and surrender to the Holy spirit. He can do a work in you in a few moments that you could never do for yourself over several decades. So I don't know about you, but I am grateful for the word of God in seasons of struggle. Anybody else? Because you can go to the word and trust that the word is always strong. How many guys know that the Bible always works?

It doesn't matter. The season doesn't matter. The struggle, the word of God works. Y'all know that like it doesn't matter. The nation, the word of God works. It doesn't matter. The political climate, the word of God, y'all ain't going to help me preach this 10 30. The word of God works. So we're going to put it to work today. What I'm going to read may seem oddly prophetic and I just want to clarify that I chose this passage of scripture last October for today, which is, which is kind of wild, right? Because normally I don't prepare that far in advance, but as our church has grown and we have more staff. I have more pressure to prepare in advance because we got teams who need to make slides like that first things first For our new collection, which is called first love and so What it's Valentine's y'all? But you might not be feeling very romantic. You're like, I'm just trying to thaw out. All right, I don't I Let's cuddle But not for romantic reasons. I'm just trying to catch some body heat, you know, I get it. I get it. I Get it. But what we're gonna do today is go to Revelation chapter 2. Maybe it's been a while Since you've heard me read from the book of Revelation. I don't preach on it often But today I sense that my assignment from the Holy Spirit is Is that we talk about the very thing that we've titled this collection, which is first love everybody say first love So what we're gonna do is go to Revelation chapter 2 This is probably the most famous moment in all of Scripture where this phrase is mentioned first love And we're gonna read this out loud all together

If you don't mind once more to stand to your feet for the reading of the Word of God, we're gonna go to Revelation chapter 2 Verse 2 Through 5 if you don't have a Bible you can read it with us off the screen here But we are gonna read it out loud all together if you don't mind Revelation chapter 2 verse 2 Let's read. I know your works Your toil and your patient endurance and how you cannot bear with those who are evil but have tested those who call themselves Apostles and or not and found them to be false I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my namesake and you have not grown weary But I have this against you that you have abandoned the love you had at first Remember therefore from where you have fallen Repent and do the works you did at first If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place Unless you repent now, I don't know if you have a red-letter Bible But if you have a red-letter Bible, you will notice that these words are in fact read meaning These are directly from the mouth of Christ himself He is speaking to and through the writer who is John the Apostle John the Beloved to a church in Revelation 2 which is the church at Ephesus which He has been the pastor of up until the exile Okay So Jesus is speaking to and through John and in verse 4 is where we're gonna focus today And he says but I have this against you that you have abandoned You've Abandoned the love you had at first Another translation reads like this New King James says nevertheless I have this I have this against you that you have left your title of the whole collection first love This is what I have against you. You have left your first love So the title of the message today is return to sender

return To sender we're gonna return to our first love in Jesus name. Let's pray once more God We say thank you for your Word that is everlasting and always faithful to restore and heal and empower and break off everything that we no longer need to carry Holy Spirit. I pray that you operate in this place today. Holy Spirit I pray that not one of us leave here the same today. Holy Spirit. I pray that you go beyond our Expectations that you go beyond our imagination and that you do a work in this place in our hearts and in this house That sets the appropriate trajectory for the good future that you have planned out for us God We won't resist you. We're not going to hesitate when you ask us for more But Lord we open our hearts this morning and we say come in and go to work because the Word works Come In and go to work because your Word always Works and we're building our life on your Word in Jesus name. We pray and everybody said Amen, you can be seated. Tell somebody on your way to you see say the Word works Revelation Revelation chapter 2 if you're familiar with the book of Revelation, then, you know that this is the first Message to the first church in the book of Revelation Jesus speaking to seven churches and which is in the book of Revelation. Doors I'm sure you know this by reading this book, but I just wanna emphasize that Jesus takes routine inventory of His church. Let me say it again, because I want you to get it. Jesus takes routine inventory of His church. There are times, moments, seasons where Jesus deliberately inspects what is happening in His house. He does that, He has done that,

and He will continue to do that. And then when He sees, not what we show, but what He sees, He will then issue judgments as needed. I'm not trying to be too heavy off the bat, but this is a reality, and Revelation 2 tells us this. Yes, God is a lover, and we love Him for it. But God is also a refiner. And He will refine you, and He will refine us as a church whenever He deems it's time. In the book of Malachi chapter three, verse two, there's some insight about the nature of your Savior. Malachi says this, for He, that's God, will be like a blazing fire that refines metal. Now if I, I don't know when I need some metal, but I'm grateful that it's refined because I know refined metal is strong. So there's a purpose for the refinement, which is to make it strong, to make you strong, to make us strong. Whenever God refines, He has a purpose in His heart, and that's not to leave us the same, and that's not to leave us weak, but to make us strong through the purification. Malachi goes on to say that He refines metal, or like a strong soap, He bleaches clothes. And in the same way, I'm grateful in my time of need for a strong metal, I am grateful for a cleansing, the cleansing power of the blood of Jesus that washes me free like soap does when it bleaches garments.

And so Malachi tells us this is what your God is like. He'll refine you like metal, He'll bleach you like clothes, but ultimately that is for your strength and your cleanliness. These moments of inspection are absolutely necessary for purity and righteousness in your life, and they're absolutely necessary for purity and righteousness in the church. Absolutely necessary. I know it's hard when we're put under the microscope, but bless God, we are all the better for it. It is, and I hate it when God calls me to the carpet. How about you? You're like, hey boy, we gonna talk about that thing that you have been avoiding. You're like, mm-mm, man. It's like a health inspector, right? I don't know about you, but if I owned a restaurant, I would probably get afraid when the health inspector showed up unannounced. I don't own a restaurant, so I ain't got that fear in my life. I just eat at restaurants, so I'm grateful for the health inspector. Because I don't own a restaurant, but I eat at restaurants, so I'm grateful for the health inspector. I'm like, oh yeah, that's right, health inspector gonna get ya. Bad boys, bad boys, what you gonna do, what you gonna do when they, yeah.

That's why we like to show cops, right? We don't want to get in trouble, but we want to watch other people get in trouble. It's something about it, right? You just can't take your eyes off of it. I don't want to eat at a restaurant that does not have an A plus health score. You know what I'm talking about. So I don't own a restaurant, so I don't have to be afraid of the health inspector, but I'm glad that the health inspector exists because I want my favorite restaurants to maintain their purity. Are you with me? So when God shows up to inspect your church, you ought to celebrate. It might be difficult, but we ought to celebrate because routine inspection is required for righteousness. Let me say it again. If you're taking notes, write it down. Routine inspection is required. for righteousness. I don't have a restaurant, but how about we bring up IRS auditors. Now, I've never had an auditor knock at my door, and I hope that they never do, because getting audited really doesn't sound like much fun, does it? But you know what? I know it's a possibility.

So I've got to keep a heart posture of preparation so that if and when they show up, I ain't gotta get ready, because I've stayed ready. You see what I'm saying? Because I know they make their rounds. They may choose you randomly one Tuesday afternoon. So I better stay ready so I ain't gotta get ready, and that's what we see happening in Revelation 2 whenever Jesus starts making his rounds. Kind of like a health inspector. What y'all got going on in there? What's happening in your house? Kind of like a IRS auditor. So it would be very wise that we take a heart posture before God of preparation, because yes, we know that he blesses. Thank you, Jesus, for blessing us. Hallelujah, we're grateful for all of the blessings, but we also know that he judges. And if the only time that we'll open our hearts to receive God's words is when he's got a blessing for us, then we're gonna stay spiritually immature. Because it's not really when I'm blessed do I grow the most. It's when I'm tested. It's when I'm investigated. It's when God shows up on a moment's notice and says, let me see that part of your heart that you've been hiding from everybody.

Talk about it, all right. Routine inspection is required for righteousness. Now, I always wanna be celebratory of God's work. I wanna rejoice whenever he blesses you. And I know it's very tempting to rejoice whenever he inspects you. But I wanna say we gotta be careful when that time comes. I wanna celebrate God's work, but we gotta be mindful when pointing out the planks in other people's eyes. Because Jesus makes his rounds. And before long, he'll inspect your heart. So while you're watching, you know, Cops, church edition, get them God. Just know, Jesus said with the same measure that you judged, that same measure is gonna be used for you when it's time for me to show up and inspect your heart, when it's time for me to come show up and inspect your home, when it's time for me to show up and inspect your business, when it's time for me to show up and inspect your ministry. That's all I'm saying. I don't want no smoke with the IRS. I don't want no smoke with the health inspector. And I'm gonna tell you who I really don't want no smoke with is Jehovah. God himself. I don't want no smoke. But if you are showing up at my house, then I wanna make it easy for you to get in. Here you go, God.

And I know what we want. We want God to judge the world, because we're like the disciples walking around with Jesus. Jesus, I'm gonna call down fire on the world, on the culture. They're demonic, they're dark, and they're evil, and we hate them. But Jesus said this, when it's time for judgment to be released, it's gonna start not with the world, but with the church. 1 Peter 4, 17, for the time has come for judgment, and it must begin with God's household. And if judgment begins with us, he goes on to say, what terrible fate awaits those who have never obeyed God's good news. Here's the thing about whenever God shows up, he inspects. When God inspects, he always sees more than you want to show. All right, I'm gonna say it again. Whenever God shows up to inspect, he always sees more than you want to show. You ever get a text from a friend, hey, I'm dropping by in 30 minutes. Woo, what? You get up off the couch, you were watching Netflix, you go brush your teeth, you put a hat on real quick, and you're spot. cleaning the living room? Because they're like, if they come in

and see that I'm living like this, that's not gonna be a good look. Right, so I'm willing for you to see what I've prepared to show. So, hey, come on in, come on into the living room, have a seat, do you want some tea? I was just making some, you know, you've got it as spotless as it can be in 30 minutes. But here's the thing about Jesus, Jesus will come in, he'll be like, that's nice, what's back here? Right, because when you're like trying to, you know, prep everything, what do you do? You take all your clothes, all your laundry, you put it into a pile, you open a closet. You're yelling at the kids, get ready, somebody's gonna be here in 30 minutes. Jesus comes over, he's like, living room's nice, opens the closet. Whenever Jesus inspects, he always sees more than you want to show. The good parts don't need refinement, they're already good. And I know that's what we wanna show God, and I know that's what we wanna show the church, and I know that's what we wanna show the world. Look at the good parts, but remember what Jesus said in Matthew chapter nine, verse 12, healthy people don't need a doctor, sick people do. So whenever God is searching for where he's gonna aim

his power, he focuses on what needs healing. You guys okay? Is this too heavy for like after the week of snow day? God is so good at asking the hard questions. I mean, God will ask the very thing that you're like, that is the last thing I wanted you to ask me. And yet that's what he asked most often, because he's more passionate about your purity than he is about helping you keep up with appearances. Write this down. God will refine you at the expense of your reputation. God will refine you at the expense of your reputation. Okay, if you wanna know about a church that has a phenomenal reputation, you need to look no further than Revelation chapter two at the church at Ephesus. This church is a church that all of us would wanna be a part of. This church was like the mind molder of the global church at the time. It was like the mind molder of the church at the time. This was the top dog church. The apostle Paul planted this church. He then leaves, he passes it on to Timothy, who is a dog in his own right. And then Timothy passes it on to John the beloved, John the apostle, who is even the more influential, put his head on Jesus' chest. Could you imagine your pastor having that measure of pull with Christ?

Can you imagine like going to a church with such influential men of God at the helm? You've got the apostle Paul, you've got Timothy, and now you've got John. And this church was so influential, not because it was influential politically, although it was, but it was influential ecclesiastically. Meaning the way that the church at Ephesus went would determine the way the rest of the global church went. This is why a lot of scholars would maintain that the reason Jesus showed up at the church of Ephesus first is because they were like a domino, they were a tipping point. They were the church that as they went, the other churches went. So Jesus said, I'm gonna stop by here first. I'm gonna do a little investigation here first, because I know the influence that you have, and I wanna purify my church. And so Jesus shows up, and we see here in verse two, he says, I'm gonna purify my church. And so Jesus shows up, and we see here in verse two, he says this first, I know all the things that you do. Maybe you just need a little reminder today. Holy Spirit says to you, I see all the things that you do. Now, depending on what you do, that statement comes with varying degrees of discomfort. Because Jesus says, hey, I'm gonna look at the thing you don't want me to look at. Hey, I'm gonna deal with the thing

that you've been trying to hide, the thing that you've been trying to cover up. Because God sees it all. And ignoring inspection is never wise, in Galatians chapter six. The Bible says, do not be deceived, because God's not gonna be mocked. A man will repent. what he sows. I realize we're knocking on the door of a rebuke today, but I want to highlight the nature of God because before he issues the rebuke to the church at Ephesus, he first compliments them. And he compliments them in three ways. And I think this is amazing because this is your God. Even when he comes and says, hey, we're gonna do business with this thing, he doesn't neglect the ways in which you have been obedient. He doesn't overlook the things that you've done rightly. And that's what he does here for the church at Ephesus. He says three things. Number one, he says, you've been diligent. Number two, he says, you are discerning. And number three, he says, you are perseverant. So this church at Ephesus, verses two and three, you'll see these attributes. The first one being diligent means this. This church worked hard, okay? This was not a lazy church. This was a church that was getting after it.

I mean, they had systems and structure and they worked very hard. And not only is working hard commendable by God, but it's also commanded by God. We're supposed to work hard to advance the kingdom of Jesus. If you agree with that, just say amen. In 1 Corinthians 15, the Bible says, therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your is not in vain. We are supposed to work hard. The Ephesian church worked very hard for God. But that did not mean that they were spared rebuke. Just because you work really hard for God does not mean that God's gonna give you a pass when it's time for him to investigate your heart. Man, you're doing all this right. That's wonderful. But hey, let's talk about the habits that you refuse to break. Man, I see you working real hard in Sunday school class. Like you're serving them kids so well. But let's talk about how you talk to your husband. Let's talk, sir, I know you're working really hard nine to five, doing overtime, doing everything you can to provide. That's wonderful, it's commendable, it's also commanded. But let's talk, sir, about how you speak to your wife. Sir, let's talk about how you speak to your children. Are you with me?

Man, it's amazing, you're serving, you're volunteering, you're doing wonderful things. But let's talk about where you go and incessantly cannot turn away from after work. 5.30, you turn it into the bar. My bad, was that the part I crossed the line? Okay. I'm out of vape juice. Lord's like, yeah, I told you to stop doing that. Can't help it, God, I have to get you. Yeah, I knew I wasn't gonna get no amens on that. I'm talking about the things that the Lord has put his finger on that you've consistently resisted and rejected. No, that didn't matter, that didn't really matter. Point to it in Scripture, God. If I'm not supposed to vape, where does it say? Thou shall not vape, doesn't say it, don't say it. I can do this, fine. It's amazing how we will argue with God with his own word to get away with rationalizing our own disobedience. We're trying to make something scriptural that's relational. Hey, this is bringing distance between the two of us and I'm coming for that thing. How dare you come for that? Don't you see I work hard? Are you guys with me? That's just the first one. The second one is this. They're very discerning, meaning that this church

played no games with false apostles, no games with false prophets, and no games with false preachers. What they did was they were so zealous for righteousness and ministry that they had set up proper safeguards for accountability and leadership, which is amazing. In 1 John chapter four, it says this. The Lord said to them, if you're going to be faithful to me, In 1 John chapter four, it says this. Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they're from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the spirit of God. Every spirit that confesses, everybody say confession. That Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is in fact from God. And every spirit that does not confess, everybody say confession. That does not confess Jesus is not from God. So one of the things that the Ephesian church did was they set up these safeguards to ensure that the people who were in leadership had appropriate character. Now I think we can all say that this is important. We want our pastors, we want our apostles, our prophets, our evangelists, our pastors and our teachers to all have great character, amen?

But they did not. just checked for character, they also checked for confession. And when I say confession, what I mean is doctrine. And this is something that I think that God is doing amongst my own Pentecostal tradition, is that long since we have been passionate to say, we must have men of God of good character, but not only do we need great character in leadership, but we also need solid confession. We need men of God that know how to rightly divide the word of truth, to build our lives on the Bible, to build our churches on the Bible, to build our ministries on the Bible, to build our families on the Bible, to build our businesses on the Bible. Are you with me? It's very important that we not only have character, but we also have confession, because character and confession actually go hand in hand. If you have shallow confession, then it will eventually lead to shallow character. Because you'll live out what you believe to be true about God. In Psalm 119, we see how can a young person keep the path of purity? By living according to the word. Number three, he said this about the Ephesian church. He said that you are persevering. Persevering how?

In the face of persecution. No matter how much they had to suffer, they kept the faith. And that's Romans five. Paul writes, not only that, we rejoice in our sufferings. This is what the Ephesian church did. They worked very hard, they were prophetic, they had zeal for righteousness, and they suffered all sorts of persecution and pushback, and they never quit. We will suffer for you, Lord. We will go in Jesus' name. It doesn't matter who tries to stop us, but we will continue in our pursuit of pleasing you and being obedient to your word. And yet, all of that, Jesus says, I see your diligence. I'm grateful for your hard work. I see your discernment. I'm glad that you don't tolerate wickedness. I see your perseverance, that even whenever people persecute you, you don't throw in the towel and quit, but I have something against you. I'm grateful for all of those things, but I do have something against you. I have shown up, and I have inspected you thoroughly, and the thing that I have recognized is that you have abandoned the love that you had for me at first. So you have lost your first love. Now, interestingly, because I wanna define

first love real quick, if you look at commentaries or read scholars, you'll notice that everybody had a different definition of what first love actually was, and I think, this is just my opinion, that was based upon what they sensed the greatest need of their generation was. So like right now, if you ask a Pentecostal what's first love, they would talk about intimacy with God through prayer and worship, because that's what we need, man. And no doubt, we always do need it, but different scholars interpret it differently. They would say, oh, first love is when you lose your love, your brotherly love, your affection for the saints of God, for the church, you lost your first love. Others would say, oh, you lost your love for your city. You lost first love. Others would say, you lost your love for the poor. You lost your first love, and then finally, you lost your love for good doctrine. You've lost your first love, and I honestly think all of these are valid expressions of first love, because I think first love has to be deeply personalized, and here's why I believe that, because whenever Jesus issues this rebuke, he says in verse five, remember therefore from where you have fallen, repent, and catch this, do the works you did at first. So when we talk about first love, we are confronted with a question.

When we first fell in love with Jesus, what were the works you did at that time? What were those works? I've got a few thoughts that I believe are universal, five to be exact, that are expressions of first love. I want you to write them down. If you're taking notes, I believe that these are universal actions that all Christians tend to take when we first fall in love with Jesus. I believe this could be a big part of the appeal where Jesus says, I'm putting my finger on this thing, and I want you to return to these works. I want you to do these things again. Number one is this. First love is an earnest desire to please God, rather than just being a good Christian. Over time, we can fall into. this religious practice of, well, I'm just doing what I think is required in order for me to remain a quote-unquote good Christian, rather than at first, when you were first saved, you were driven by an earnest desire to please God. You weren't thinking about what you could get away with and still be a good Christian. You were driven by an earnest desire relationally to please God. What's gonna bring God glory and what's gonna grieve God's spirit? We're thinking about those things. The second thing is this, a sensitivity to conviction

rather than rationalizing disobedience. First love possesses this drive for swift obedience. How quickly can I say yes to what I sense the spirit is asking me to do? How quickly can I put that into action? Number three is a drive to study scripture. First love, the works of first love look like devouring the Bible and other books about God. How much can I learn about my savior? Number four is a sincere surrender to fast. Some of us, when we first get saved, we're so diligent about sacrificing anything that we can, including meals and entertainment so that we can get closer to God. But then over time, we stop surrendering, we stop fasting, we stop sacrificing. But what first love does is it sacrifices what's valuable in order to draw closer to God. Number five, last one. First love takes significant time to pray. Significant time to pray. Time is our most valuable asset. And what first love does, I wanna say it like this. First love wastes time on God. Now, we know that any time we spend with Jesus is not really a waste. But when you look at it through the lens of our culture, some may ask, well, couldn't you be using that time to do something a bit more productive? Don't you know you've got a lot of work to do?

Yes, I know I could be working, but I'm pouring out this hour at the feet of Jesus. Yes, I know I could be using this time to make money, but I'm pouring this hour out at the feet of Jesus because he is worthy of it. And I wanna take significant time for fellowship with my heavenly father. These are actions that first love takes. It's called first love because love matters first. And we see that in Corinthians when Paul says, and now these three remain, faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is what? Love. First Corinthians 13 again, in verse two this time, he also writes, and if I have prophetic powers, and I understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but I have not love, nothing. So we gotta get the love part right. And that's what Jesus is coming for for the Ephesian church. And I have to believe that for some of us today, that is what Jesus is coming for. He's not asking you to return to an immature love. He's telling us to return to what's most important before anything else. So my question to you today, and better said, the Holy Spirit's question to you today is this. Where is your love for God? Where's your love for God? Has it been replaced by good and religious activities?

Where is your love for God? I think where a lot of us falter is, when confronted with a question like that, where is your love for God? What we do is we focus on our affection, and affection certainly matters. But whenever Jesus talks to the church about first love, he looks to actions. He said, no, what were the works you did at first? I hear you that you love me. I'm listening to the confession of affection. I'm listening to you worship. I'm listening to you on a Sunday when you come in and sing all the songs. I'm listening to you whenever pastor says it's time to pray and you bow your head and you pray sincerely in your heart. I'm hearing your confession of affection, but what about the actions? What about the things that you're no longer doing? What about those moments where you could not get enough of God that you've left all? of those things aside and you've traded it in for, well you know I love you Lord. That's what he's doing, that's what he's pointing to. He's saying affection, true affection, right affection leads to right action. And you're no longer taking action, so now I've come to investigate your so-called affection. Are you with me? Have I like laid this thing on way too thick today, it's like, listen I pray that each and every one of us, and I'm starting with me, I'm praying today and I was praying early this morning and I prayed this week as I prepared this message, I prayed that as God shines

a light on each and every one of us that we would not be guarded with things that we don't want him to see, but that we would be aware he already sees it anyway and he's not going to heal what we refuse to reveal. I'm praying that all of us would just open up every door, we'd open up every closet, we'd say God here's my life, here's my heart, here's my family, here's my marriage, here's my finances. You want to address me in the form of my finances, like go in, go ahead, like I want to be holy, you've called me to righteousness, I don't just want to be right, I want to be righteous. You said be holy as I'm holy, I want to be like you God, so I'm yielding, I'm surrendering, I'm saying you have access to everything, if you want to address me about something that I know that I'm right about but you want to convict me, not condemn me, but you want to convict me to show me how I am called to mature in that area, I want to say yes, yes God, come on in. He says later in Revelation 3, those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent, be zealous and repent. I couldn't work this verse into my message, I just didn't know where to put it but I thought it was so beautiful, the book of Jeremiah, God says this, I remember the devotion of your youth, your love as a bride, how you followed me in the wilderness in a land not south. I remember the devotion of your youth and I would challenge us today, if you need to be reminded of the devotion of your youth, allow God to remind you of that devotion. I know your life's different now, you may have some kids now, it's a little bit more difficult, I know your life is different now, you got a career now, it might be a little bit more difficult but what works is God pointing to today, saying hey, return, return, it's time to come back to first love. Right where you are, would you just close your eyes for a moment, bow your head. Jesus I pray that you would minister to each of us right now, you're so faithful to perfect your people and we are your people God. Holy Spirit, I pray that you would convict us of places in our life that you are calling us to greater righteousness, as we pour our love out on you, as this song says, we pour

our love out on you, that's pouring out what's valuable. I don't know what you've been holding onto, I don't know what you've refused to look at, I don't know what you've not wanted God to see, I don't know what God has asked you for, for a while, that you've just not wanted to let go of, but today is the day church, today is the day, today is the day, it's okay, today is the day, I want you to take that thing and push it up on the altar, I want you to take that thing that you've been clinging to, thinking that that is what brings you the greatest degree of identity in your life and put it on the altar. Whatever that is, whatever the Holy Spirit may convict you of, I know that whenever he takes inventory, he doesn't look at what's all sparkly and perfect and clean and impressive, but he looks at the parts of our hearts that are sick and diseased and are dilapidated as a result of our disobedience. What is that for you today? That's all I'm asking. you to consider and in the name of jesus god we place that on the altar and lord we just say you're worthy of it you're worthy of this you're worthy of this you're worthy of this you're worthy of this you're worthy of this oh we're grateful we're grateful for the judgment oh we're grateful for the discipline oh we're grateful when you come and take inventory we're thankful god we're holding on to stuff that we don't even know hurts your heart we're grateful we're thankful for righteousness god we're thankful for the perfection we're thankful that we get to be the clay and you are the potter we're thankful we don't have to work on ourselves we're thankful that this is not all about our own ability to become pleasing to you we are grateful for your blood and we receive it today go to work on us go to work on us we are not going to leave this room the same way that we stepped in go to work on us some of us maybe you've adopted some old behavior while the world seemingly was shut down during the ice storm let go of that you ain't got to carry it back with you let go of that maybe you got bored and you took up drinking again let go of that whatever it might be i don't know what it is for you maybe it's something you need to tell your wife maybe it's something you need to tell your husband i don't know what it is but lord we say thank you we say thank you for loving us through it and loving it out of us

so i'll give you just 30 seconds and just you can keep your eyes closed and just let the lord speak to you as as we're all receiving from god could i just have my my prayer team come up do what you want to do god do what you want to do have your way don't stop taking inventory god don't stop making your rounds god oh we want all of your ministry we don't we don't want just a portion of the ministry of jesus we want all of your ministry god oh we're grateful for our moments under the magnifying glass it may hurt in the moment but we come out pure refine us like metal we pray bleach us like clothing we pray today in the name of jesus we relinquish control of our own minds we relinquish control of our own time we are slaves to righteousness we know that god the truth teaches us that and we accept your words today